Digital Social Hour
Matt Bowyer: How a $40M Gambling Addiction Changed Everything | DSH #1517
31 Aug 2025
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Guys in the office who are making tons of extra money, FU money let's call it, that they're willing to blow.
Chapter 2: What is the shocking truth behind the Shohei Ohtani betting scandal?
And I said, I was a family guy, I had a baby, and I didn't do drugs or chase girls, so here we go, I'll just run with this. I'll take my gambling addiction and make it something even positive for me. Because I always gamble, that's the one thing I've always done. All right, guys. Got Matt Boyer on today. Crazy story.
He's going to reveal his side of the story because we've seen a lot of articles on it.
Chapter 3: What legal troubles did Matt Bowyer face due to his gambling addiction?
Thanks for coming on today, man. Thanks for having me. Really appreciate it. Yeah.
Chapter 4: How did Matt Bowyer's childhood experiences shape his gambling career?
So obviously you got portrayed in a certain light. I'd love to hear from you what exactly happened. Yeah. The problem with the media is to sell and to get eyes on them, they try to make you look as bad as possible. So The truth of the matter is most of the stuff they put out is, I'd say, 80% accurate. It's the part that you have no defense, right?
Chapter 5: What was the significance of the $1.6 million trip to Costa Rica?
I haven't been able to speak about it or tell my side of the story, which is great you're giving me that today. So I really appreciate it. Absolutely. So 80% was accurate. What was the 20% that you had an issue with? It's just the sensationalism of...
Chapter 6: How much money has Matt Bowyer lost to gambling over the years?
what really happened, you know, leaving out tidbits or explaining a side of a story that maybe occurred, but yet not explaining really why or the back end of the story. So as an example, you know, they portrayed as if I knew, uh, going to the Shohei Otani part that I knew all along that he was stealing money. That's kind of the way that they portray me.
Um, I had no idea that he was stealing money from Shohei Otani. Truthfully, the real story is I don't even know to this day, who was actually gambling on the account. The FBI, the government, did all their homework and research. And they're the ones who put out what they believe happened.
Even to this day, the only two people that really know what occurred on that betting account is Shohei Otani and Ipe Mizohara. Wow. Were they betting online or in person at the casino? All online. My website, which was in Costa Rica, my job was to provide a service, right? So the service that I provided was really simple. I give you an account. You tell me the credit line you want.
It's all credit based. You would start betting with me. We would settle up based on that either every week or on a subtle account or subtle amount, I should say. So as an example, this account that we're referring to started with one thousand per game, eight thousand dollar credit line, which is normal, very small, very, you know, really a normal account.
And, uh, what turned out to be 1,000, 8,000 turned out to be $40 million. Wow. About a 16 month period. Holy crap. Yeah. They bet 40 mil. Well, he bet $326 million through my website.
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Chapter 7: What happened during the FBI raid on Matt Bowyer's home?
Holy crap. In 16 months. And, uh, The amount of bets he made was over 19,000 wagers, which is almost a full-time job in itself.
Chapter 8: What items were confiscated during the FBI raid?
I mean, literally you have to be on a phone or computer logging in, you put an account number, you put in the bet, you got to confirm the bet. You got to pick the bet, go to the sport. I mean, it's very time consuming. So clearly he had a very big gambling addiction. And I had no idea to the extent of how bad it was until over a period of time.
And he never showed any sign of, you know, distray or, you know, he would make fun of himself. during our, you know, relationship to the point where he laughed about it. Wow. And, and it never showed me a sign of, Oh my God, this is a problem. I mean, I knew it was a problem. He was gambling way more than, but I also gambled at that level. So I have my own vice, you know?
So it's like, I understood where he was coming from, but I just had no idea that he was actually stealing money, you know, from show it. Did he make money on it or did he lose money? He won 140 plus million betting through me, and then he lost 180 plus million. Holy crap. So the net was $40 million in losses. Damn, what a crazy swing. Yeah, it was wild.
I mean, it started off at $1,000 bets and ended up being the max he was ever betting was $100,000 a game. That is so nuts. But you make money either way, right? Even if he wins or loses? Well, no, because had he lost, because I'm the house. I was the casino. So had he lost, I would have had to pay him. I only paid him a couple times in our relationship because he was such a bad gambler.
Um, but the truth of the matter is he had a couple of big weeks. He won four and a half million dollars in one week. Uh, that was probably his biggest week. I think he ever had betting with me, but overall it was clearly a win for me. And I got paid $16 million.
Um, the other 24 million he bounced on because he's now going to prison, which is, you know, very sad to see, but the 24 million is very income, obviously uncollectible. Wow. Did you get sentenced up? Yeah. You got sentenced to 57 months in prison. Holy crap. You know, he committed a crime. He stole a lot of money. And, you know, at the end of the day, you steal $17 million from your employer.
I have a feeling you're going to do a pretty big sentence. So he had access to Shohei's money. You know, I didn't know that till afterwards. But yeah, he was acting. Apparently, there's actually bank phone calls of him portraying to be Shohei Itoi. No way. Yeah. It's that easy? You could just say you're him? Because he was an interpreter.
So the fact that there was a language barrier and the fact that he actually was basically his personal assistant in all facets of life. allowed him that access to the bank. And because of that, I think he had something that other people don't have access to. That's nuts. Yeah. And then Otani found out much later, huh? You know, this is the part that's in question, right?
So let me ask you a question, Sean. If you had $16 million taken from your bank account, how long do you think it would take for you to actually see that? I would notice quick because that's more than I even have. I'd be negative. Okay, so that's really my point. Even though he's a very wealthy guy, it's just ironic that over a 16-month period, he didn't notice $16 million out of his account.
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